Lost, but Not Forgotten
by T.K. Sakura
Summary: A dream brings up Vegeta's past


Disclaimer: I don't own DB, DBZ, DBGT. I DO on the other hand own this story, so if you take it without my permission I will send my muse, Neko-Chan and Vegeta, Prince of all Saiyans to beat you into the Next Dimension, or as those of us who don't live with a censor like to call it, Hell.  
_______  
  
Bra padded barefooted around her house, she could hear Trunks on the phone. 'That must be Goten, who else would he be calling at, two-thirty in the morning.' She glanced at her watch again to make sure of the time; she untwisted the strap on her half shirt and pulled her boxer shorts up a little. "Damn," she said aloud.   
  
"Bra?" Trunks asked, sticking his out of his bedroom, his hair was pushed back from his face and his tie loosened.  
  
Bra sighed. "Yeah, it's me."  
  
"You ok?"   
  
"I guess."  
  
Trunks held the phone to his ear, "I'll talk to you later," he said.  
  
"Who was that? Goten?"  
  
"No, Gohan. He was just going over some of tomorrow's agenda with me."  
  
Bra smiled meekly and asked "Doesn't Videl ever get upset when you keep him up past two a.m.?"  
  
"How often do I keep him up that late?" He asked.   
  
"Well," Bra said, leaning against a wall, "in the last week... the past four nights. Including tonight."  
  
Trunks smiled. "Not sleeping to well, Bra?"  
  
Bra smiled back at Trunks, only hers was mournful. "No, I keep having this dream."  
  
"What's it about?"  
  
"I was getting there, oh Prince of Interruptions," she said, back against the wall she slid to the floor unable to keep on her feet.  
  
"Bra," Trunks began with worry. She had bags beneath her eyes, her hair coming out of the braid she had it in; in a word she looked exhausted.   
  
"Don't worry so much, Trunks. I just worked out a little to hard today. Or yesterday... I suppose," Bra explained and Trunks sat down next to her. "I keep having this dream about Daddy, and this thing I can't place. I think its name was Freesia or Freezer..."  
  
"Frieza, Bra. His name was Frieza," Vegeta's voice came out of the darkness, interrupting her and causing both of them jump up.  
  
"Daddy!" She yelled loud enough for Trunks and Vegeta to get the idea she wasn't happy about being snuck up on but not wake the rest of the household.   
  
Vegeta appeared out from around the corner. "Nice boxers, Pops," Trunks said.   
  
"Black silk, my favorites," Vegeta informed him simply.   
  
"Okay, that's a little too much for your sleep deprived daughter," Bra said walking pasted her father and towards her room, ignoring the forming questions from her brother and father.  
  
Vegeta turned around watching her. "Bra," he called just before she entered her room.  
  
"Yeah?" She said, finally acknowledging his presence again.  
  
"What happened in this dream of yours?" He asked.   
  
She sighed, leaning her head against the doorframe, "I'm not sure, I never get to the end," she answered. "G'night," she said, disappearing into her room.  
_______  
  
The night past without anymore events and the morning came as it always did. "It is our responsibility and immense pleasure to serve at Cap-blah-blah-blah."  
  
"Trunks," Bra asked as sat down at the table, it was just after 11o'clock, "you are gonna say the whole name of the company and the whole speech with a little more feeling?"  
  
Trunks shrugged and said, "Eh, maybe."  
  
"No, not 'Eh, maybe.' You will, or you'll face me," said Son Gohan, as he straightened his tie, then reached around and tightened Trunks'.  
  
"Ack, not so tight! I can't breathe! I can't believe I have to spend my Saturday like this!" Trunks exclaimed, pulling away from the older man. He tried to push his hair away from his face, but it fell right back. "Kami, you act like my mother," he huffed.  
  
Bra laughed at the mock hurt look on Gohan's face. "Think of it this way... at least it wasn't Daddy," she said sympathetically. Gohan and Trunks laughed after making sure Vegeta wasn't around.  
  
"What so funny?" Goten asked, walking into the kitchen.   
  
"Nothing," all three said at once. Somewhere in the house Vegeta sneezed.   
  
Walking into the kitchen, Vegeta grabbed a napkin to wipe his nose. "Catching a cold, Daddy?" Bra asked, walking up to him and feeling his forehead, the perfect picture of innocence.  
  
"No," he said sullenly. He pulled away and glared at the four. "Just being the butt of a joke, I think."  
  
"Why, Father," Trunks said, hoping he wouldn't crack up, "we would never do such a thing!"   
  
Vegeta scowled, turned on his heel and left muttering something about 'disobedient children with smart mouths.' And something about 'working them till they couldn't walk.' Trunks, Bra, and Gohan looked at each and burst out laugh, Goten stood there dumbfounded. Vegeta sneezed again.  
  
"Hey, Bra?" Trunks turned to his sister as she wiped the tears from her eyes.  
  
"What?" She asked straightening her red halter-top and pushing her hair back.   
  
Trunks looked at her, she was happy and he didn't want to ruin that. Her face last night looked haunted, maybe even verging on frightened. "Aren't you gonna be late?" He asked, instead of the question on his mind.  
  
"Ah! Crap! Marron's gonna KILL me!"  
  
Goten smiled and grabbed Bra's arm before she could run off. "That is why I'm here, Marron sent me to get you and if we're not back in ten minute she's and I quote, 'Going to going to have both of your half saiyan asses skinned and made into a coat'. She must have been watching 'Silence of the Lambs' or something."  
  
Bra picked up a backpack from the floor. "Good luck with your speech," she said to Trunks and hugged him, then turned to Gohan. "Don't kill him," she told him.   
  
"Dammit," Gohan said, in false pout.   
  
Goten grabbed Bra's arm. "Com'on, I flew so we'll have to take your car."  
_______  
  
The car ride to the park was filled with chatter from Goten; Bra on the other hand was almost completely silent.   
  
"Bra?" Goten ventured.  
  
"Yeah?"   
  
"Is there something wrong?" He asked.  
  
Bra pondered on the question and smiled ruefully. "Yeah, but you don't need to hear about it."  
  
"Babe," he said. "If there is anything wrong with you, I need to know."  
  
Bra sighed. "Not this time," she said. "This is between Daddy and me."  
  
Goten sighed. He knew that tone, she wasn't about to tell him anything more unless she wanted and for him to continue would be a lost cause.  
_______  
  
"Finally!" Marron exclaimed as Bra and Goten walked to their meeting place by the lake. "Come ON! Move a little faster," she said.   
  
"Chill out, Marron!" Goten exclaimed, flipping where her nose should have been.  
  
"Stop that, you big goof!" Marron said swatting at his hand. Bra just sighed at them and looked for her notebook.  
  
"Kuso," she muttered realizing that she had left it at home on her bed where she had been working on her term paper after giving up on falling asleep.   
  
Marron looked at Bra as she spoke for the first time since had gotten there. "What's wrong?" She asked.  
  
"I left my notebook at home." Sighing heavily, Bra looked at them and said, "I'll be back."  
_______  
  
"What the hell is wrong with me?" Bra asked herself as she drove down the road. "Well, duh-huh. I know the answer to that... I just need a decent night's rest. Maybe it'll happen tonight." Bra just laughed at herself.  
_______  
  
Back at the park, Goten and Marron were discussing the Pythagorean Theory for a term paper, when Goten looked up to see his father and Vegeta walking along the lakeshore. "Hey, Dad!" Goten called, walking towards the two, Marron in tow.  
  
"Oh, hey, you guys!" Goku called.  
  
Vegeta looked puzzled and then asked, "I thought Bra was with you when you left?"  
  
"She was," Goten answered. "But she forgot her notebook and had to run home and get it."  
  
"Ah," he said. "Did she mention anything about a dream she had last night?"  
  
Goten thought about it for a second. "Nope, but she did say something about being just between you two that she didn't want to tell me about. She was really distant."  
  
Goku spoke up, "What did she say the dream was about when you asked her, Vegeta? You were just about to tell me."  
  
"Frieza," was all he said as he powered up and flew away.  
_______  
  
Back at Capsule Corporation, Bra's body just couldn't handle the lack of sleep anymore and she was again in the dream that had plagued her for the past four nights. ~The walls were damp and rats were a common sight in this part of Frieza's castle. Bra was walking through one endless hallway after another, going only Kami knows where. In front of her, she could see the creature, Frieza, and seven of his men, two of which were shackled and gagged. One of those men was her father; the second, a friend of her father's from long ago. The second man was Nappa. Frieza stopped, his men stopped, her father stopped and held his head high in defiance; Nappa cowered behind his prince, a dull gleam reflecting off his newly shaved head, part one of his punishment. Nappa pride was damaged, a Saiyans hair was his identity and his was gone now, it wouldn't grow back.   
  
Vegeta glowered at Frieza and was punched for it. "I WILL NOT TOLERATE SUCH INSOLENCE!" He screamed. He then lowered his voice, "Especially, from a monkey-tailed bastard, such as you."  
  
Vegeta growled something in Saiyan that Frieza couldn't understand, he received a vicious kick to the stomach for it. Nappa tried to steady Vegeta with his body, but was knocked in the back of the head by one of Frieza's men. Another kicked him in the knee causing him to fall, Nappa cried out in pain as his knee bent in a way it wasn't supposed to. Frieza laughed as Vegeta tried to help Nappa up.  
  
"Well, well, well," a new voice joined the fray, "look how the mighty have fallen."  
  
"Father," Frieza said. "How nice of you to come watch the festivities." Bra felt a shiver run through her as King Cold walked past her dream form. "We were just about to teach these apes some manners."  
  
"Oh, well, then by all means, don't let me keep you from it," he said, with a wave of his hand. Frieza smiled at Vegeta and Bra saw fear in his eyes. They started walking again. Bra cried out, "NO! DADDY!"~ Back in reality Bra's cried out in her sleep. "NO!"  
_______  
  
"It is our responsibility and immense ple-" Trunks was saying when Bra's screamed out. "I'm sorry, I'll be right back," he said to the assembly and jumped off the stage.  
_______  
  
~The door clanged and Bra jumped. Vegeta shrank at the sight before him and she felt physically ill, the floor was covered in blood. Pieces of flesh lay rotting on the floor or were being carried of by rats.   
  
"Chain them to the wall," Frieza said, pointing to the eye hooks in the wall, interrupting Bra's thoughts. Nappa struggled against the three men pushing him towards the wall in front of him. Vegeta simply allowed himself to be lead.   
  
"Why, Vegeta," King Cold said, "aren't we the passive one."  
  
Vegeta growled and Nappa stopped struggling. "What did you tell him?" Frieza asked him, pulling the gag from his mouth.  
  
"I told him to stop."  
  
"No, you didn't," Bra's dream-self said. "You told him, 'The sooner you stop struggling, the sooner we get this over with'... How the hell did I know that?"  
  
"Well, then," Frieza said when the chains were locked in place, "let's get this started." Frieza sighed and walked to face Nappa. "You know you shouldn't have tried something as stupid as stealing information from my colleges." Frieza then turned to Vegeta saying, "And you, you killed two of my men trying to save this traitor. What were you thinking?"  
  
Vegeta looked Frieza in the eye and said, "I wasn't saving a traitor... I was saving one of my friends."  
  
"Friends? Hah, you are one of my soldiers, you have no 'friends'. And I will beat that into your minuscule brain," Frieza said, removing a whip from the wall and unfurling it with a sharp crack that made Vegeta, Nappa, and Bra wince.   
  
Bra turned to the door and started pounding on it with all her might. She heard them rip the uniforms off their backs. "FINAL FLASH!" she screamed, using one of her father's energy waves. Nothing. It was useless. Another crack of Frieza's whip turned her back towards the others. A long thin line of blood traveled Vegeta's back. And then another. A smile crossed King Cold's face, as well as his son's. "NO! STOP! LEAVE HIM ALONE!"~ "NO! STOP! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Bra cried, Trunks bent over his sister and shook her.   
  
"Bra, PLEASE, WAKE UP!" Trunks screamed, panic consuming him.  
  
~The beating continued; with every stroke Frieza's smile grew. "Cry out, Vegeta," Frieza taunted, "and I'll stop."  
  
Vegeta forced a laughed, "No." Bra fell to the floor, sobbing hysterically.  
  
"Frieza," King Cold said.  
  
"Yes, Father?" He asked, turning towards him. King Cold pointed towards the back of Nappa.   
  
The whip crack rang through the room, Vegeta flinched but felt nothing. He turned his head to look at Nappa, pain was written over the whole of his face. "So, Vegeta, how long will you let your 'friend' suffer?" Frieza asked, striking Nappa again and then several times over. "All you have to do is say that you are my loyal," Frieza said with a whip crack for emphasis, "servant. That you serve only," another strike hit Nappa's back and he cried out, "me, and I let you and your monkey friend leave this room intact, to think of how much you appreciate me and my kindness, as well as lick you wounds." He stopped and wiped a speck of blood away. Frieza stepped to face Vegeta, using the hilt of the whip to lift his head and bring them eye to eye.   
  
"Or, I could leave you here for a few days, let the rats gnaw on you. I have heard that these marks," Frieza ran his finger over one of them, pressing harshly into the gouge and making Vegeta's eyes water, "they started to burn and really itch after a few hours. And then in a day or so, without treatment, they get infected, leaking this yellowish pus out of them and the few pieces of skin that didn't fall of during the whipping, get fetid and start peeling off. And the roaches and rats just love that." Frieza stepped away from Vegeta and let his head fall. "What do you say, Vegeta? Of course, you will be answering for Nappa here as well."  
  
Vegeta looked at Nappa, his head was leaned against the wall and his eyes were closed. A broken man. Vegeta could tell, he had seen many men in this room who had looked like that. They had all pledged their undying loyalty and Frieza always sent them to the most high risk or remote places, some were now his most trusted advisors; other's were never heard from again. "All right," Vegeta said. Nappa's eyes flew open.~ Trunks never heard the door slam or felt his father's ki as he sat on his sister's bed rocking her. Bra's screams had fallen into whimpers of fear and she occasionally wailed for her father. "Trunks?" Vegeta asked.  
  
"Dad," Trunks said, he was more afraid of this, his sister like this, than of any person or monster he had ever fought. "What is... what's wrong with her?"  
  
"I'm not entirely sure."  
  
"DADDY! Don't do it!" Bra screamed. ~"DADDY! Don't do it!"   
  
"I do hereby pledge our loyalty to you, Lord Frieza," Vegeta said.  
  
Nappa moaned. "No, Your Highness. Don't do this."  
  
Vegeta glared at him. "Shut up, alive and a slave is better than dead and forgotten."  
  
"To be forgotten is to truly dead," Nappa said, quoting an old Saiyan proverb.  
  
Frieza huffed. "They have pledged their loyalty, take them to the medics and have them treated. I want to see both of you as soon as you're healed."~   
  
Bra fell silent as her father took her in his arm, but tears still streamed down her face. "Trunks, go get me a warm washing cloth." Trunks walk out of the room and Vegeta breathed a sigh of relief. "Bra, please, wake up," he pleaded. "By the Dragon, if this is the heaven's way of getting back at me," Vegeta started, then looked out of the window towards the sky. Trunks walked back into the room wash cloth in hand, he silently handed it to Vegeta and looked at Bra. "Trunks, can you give me a moment."  
  
"Sure, Dad."  
  
"Thank you," he said, wiping away some of the tears on Bra's face. Trunks turned to look at his father. He looked different, younger somehow. The hard lines his father's face was usually set in disappeared as he stroked his daughter's face. He looked kinder. "Trunks," Vegeta said before Trunks closed the door.  
  
"Yes, Dad?"  
  
"I probably haven't told you this since Buu attacked," He said, turning to face his son. "But I really do love you, son. You, your sister, and your mother. I just thought I should tell you that."  
  
Trunks felt a lump form in his throat and tears in eyes. "Dad," he choked out. "I know, and we love you, too." He said before disappearing out into the hall.  
  
Vegeta washed what little make-up was left off of Bra's face. Scooping his daughter up, Vegeta headed out on to her room's balcony. Vegeta sat on the rough concrete, holding Bra in his lap, he rested her head on his shoulder. "Bra, please, wake up." Vegeta sighed, and started rocking. "I hope I get to tell you this again soon, I love you. I don't show it, but I really do love you." He kissed her cheek and noticed that her tears had stopped; her breathing calmed. "I miss doing this, rocking you like this, you've gotten so big. Kami, I've missed you and Trunks grow up. I'm sorry."  
  
"Don't be," Bra said, startling Vegeta. "Hi," she said timidly. Vegeta hugged her fiercely and she returned it just as fierce. "I love you, Daddy."  
  
"What happened in your dream?" He asked, wiping a few tears that had fallen from her eyes. Bra buried her head into her father's shoulder and bared her dream, as he stroked her hair.  
_______  
  
"There's just one thing," Vegeta said, "that your dream didn't tell you."  
  
Bra's lips quirked and she shifted in Vegeta's lap to look up at the twilight sky. "What's that?"  
  
Vegeta kissed the top of her head, and said, "That night, Nappa and I made a pact. We would do everything in our power to stop Frieza."  
  
"And you did."  
  
"And we did."  
  
"And Nappa?"  
  
"Dead, but not forgotten. Look, you see those two stars?"  
  
"Yeah," She said.  
  
"Between those two stars is where Vegeta-sei was."  
  
"So that's home."  
  
"Um-huh." Vegeta hugged her; Bra yawned and Vegeta stood up with her in his arms. "Time for bed, little girl."  
  
Bra laughed, "I'm not so little, anymore."  
  
Vegeta deposited her on the bed; walk to the door and said, "Goodnight, Bra. I love you."  
  
"Goodnight, Daddy. I love you, too."  
_______  
  
Vegeta closed the door and walked outside, he looked up at the sky and said, "Lost, but never forgotten."   
_______  



End file.
